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DictionaryRoot: tonos
Greek

tonos

tone

4 / 5
A long corridor of identical doors and identical overhead lamps recedes into dull sameness.
noun

monotony

muh-NOT-uh-nee/məˈnɑːtəni/

A dull lack of variety or change.

Etymology
monoGreekone, single, or alone
+tonGreektone
+yEnglishhaving, full of, or like

A single tone supplies the image for sameness without relief or variation. English already used the word for wearisome uniformity before its literal musical sense was recorded.

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